"Follow your bliss"- J. Campbell

The moment that I tell people that I do my work with only hand tools is when I get the strange look.  I am very familiar with it,  a combination of amusement and bewilderment.  It is the rare person who actually comprehends what I am saying.  More often than not I am asked "Well what does that mean" or "You do what?!" And inevitably the second question is  "What do you want to do that for?"

 I often struggle to explain to people why I do what I do and how I go about it.  Recently I watched the film Finding Joe and came to realize that I was on my own hero's journey. And it all made complete sense.  It all comes down to the fact that I chose to "follow my bliss".  And every juncture and decision point in my life has led to this work that I do now.

If you asked me to stop doing it would be like asking me to stop breathing.  Can't not do it.

J. H. Ralston House

A couple of weeks back I was asked to build 4 Queen Anne sash for an 1895 house in West Linn, Oregon.  At the time I was very excited to build these as my own house is a Queen Anne Victorian and I would like to replace some of my vinyl's with something more appropriate.  But it soon turned into quite a challenge.

The homeowner provided me with one original sash to use as the sample and an old photo taken of the house in 1915.  The material originally used was Western Red Cedar, my new least favorite species to work with.   In Oregon most 19th c. sash are either Douglas Fir or Western Red Cedar.  This cedar is very prone to tearing and it dents very easily.  My chisels and irons had to be kept very sharp.  I spent a lot of time at the whetstone and strop.

The beginning of the first pair-layout.  (Note my beloved anvil in the background.  

You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find a good anvil.)

Mortises cut, now onto the fun stuff-cutting the rabbet and molded edge.

Using the moving fillister to cut the glazing rabbet (rebate for those of you in Europe).

First pair built, primed, and glazed with colored glass.

Onto the next pair which were much more challenging.  Twice as many lights.  

Partial completion.

Lots of scribing and fitting involved with the grid.

44 hand-cut mortise and tenon joints per 21 light sash.  

Finally assembled, many hours later.

I will post some photos of the glazed sash once they are completed.

Radio show

I was recently interviewed by Jackie B. Peterson for a program on SoloPro Radio.  Here is a link to it.  Once you get to the page scroll down to Wednesday Jan. 25th.
I talk about how I got started and about my work philosophy.

Cottage Grove Armory

Armory Entrance.

One of my next projects, the beautiful art deco Cottage Grove Armory building.  Built in 1931 as a National Guard armory and community center.  Oculus has been contracted to restore 35 of the worst windows over the next 10 months.  Cottage Grove is a nice small town a little bit south of Eugene.  It is centrally located in the Willamette Valley.  Here is a link for more information about Cottage Grove.

The windows are typical 6 over 6  and 4 over 4 double-hungs.  One of the details that I really like about them are the weight pocket doors.  I rarely see them cut on the diagonal.  I will post more pictures of these as the restoration progresses. 

Weight pocket door.

Some of the window details that I am not so excited to see is the lack of flashing between the sills and the concrete which has lead to a lot of complete sill failures.  Also the ends of the sills are buried in a small pocket of concrete.  Not so good either.

Sill end rotted out.

Complete sill failure.

Right now the project is in the assessment stage.  So there is a lot of work to be done over spring and summer.  Most of the physical work will happen in the late spring and summer months.  I will be utilizing both epoxy and dutchman repairs so I need those warm temperatures and rainless days.

I want to mention my new camera.  Over the summer I worked on a consulting job where the conservator was using a Panasonic Lumix to photograph windows.  The quality and ease of use promoted me to purchase one recently (and it wasn't too pricey either).  I have to say that I am very pleased with the results so far.  The picture below is a second story window but I shot is from the parking strip.  I still had a lot of zoom left.

Shortly I will post about another exciting project that I will be working on over the next 12 months.   This project will stretch my plane-making skills as I will be making two matched curved and sprung sash planes.  Check back in to see what all that means.  

As a little tease here is the view from the jobsite.

Creative Entrepreneur

I did an interview with Sheri Joi recently.  It can now be accessed on the web at this website.  I talk about my business and some the pros and cons of being a creative entrepreneur.  Give it a listen.

There and Back Again

Well, I made it back to Portland with no problems with the border crossing.  So, I would like to thank everyone that made this trip possible-my family, my friends, two of my clients-waxahatchie and Mrs. J., and the conference staff-  I couldn't have done it without your support.
I have put up the last set of pictures from my Saturday field session.  Most of the pictures of the naval yard are for my parents.  They do love their ships.  Enjoy!

Soon I will be posting about the two large projects that I will be tackling in the next 12 months.

Victoria Pictures

I have added a slideshow to the side bar so you can look at some of the sites.  I will try and add to it daily.  Enjoy!